Privacy and data protection

McAfee’s push for secure cloud adoption

Organisations must do more to secure their cloud environments as malicious actors increasingly focus their attention on exploiting cloud vulnerabilities, says McAfee Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

Data management strategies are evolving – so must enterprises

A growing number of data-driven initiatives, alongside heightened demand for security in governance, data management and compliance, has led to the rise of a more holistic approach – integrated risk management Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

US likely to concede on Huawei export ban

The US government may make some concessions over the future of Huawei before the end of the year Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The operational approach to integrated risk management

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

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• Simon Persin, Turnkey Consulting

Security Think Tank: Get basic security policy right, and the rest will follow

Paying attention to basic aspects of cyber security such as policy and permission will give you a sold base to build from Continue Reading

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• Petra Wenham

Security Think Tank: Risk is unavoidable in digital transformation

How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision-making? Continue Reading

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• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Government departments sign up to web data-sharing plan

All but four Whitehall departments have so far agreed to share web analytics data to allow the government to monitor user behaviour across the Gov.uk domain Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UK and US call on Facebook to walk back encryption plans

The US, Australian and UK governments have asked Facebook to ditch plans to deploy end-to-end encryption across Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IT contractor charged over cyber attack on property valuation firm

Australian police charge 49-year-old man with stealing and posting more than 170,000 data records belonging to ASX-listed Landmark White on the dark web Continue Reading

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• Beverley Head

Why data-driven applications need a governance framework

Data is the new oil – but without tight control, how can business determine that the data is valid? Data catalogues are back in vogue Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

LogRhythm touts unlimited data plan for SIEM systems

SIEM supplier introduces three-year, term-based pricing plan that lets enterprises ingest as much data as they want without breaking the bank Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Local authorities hit by 800 cyber attacks every hour

Local authorities and councils in the UK have reported being hit by more than 263 million cyber attacks in the first six months of this year Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

New threat group behind Airbus cyber attacks, claim researchers

Context Information Security’s threat intel and response teams says it has evidence that the recent supply chain attacks on Airbus are the work of a newly identified group called Avivore Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber war as big a threat as nuclear war, says ex-RSA head Coviello

Former RSA chairman Art Coviello has been speaking about the devastating potential of cyber weapons, and warned that humanity must learn from history in order to control them Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Five million DoorDash customers’ details lost in data breach

Takeaway delivery service was breached in May 2019, resulting in the data of millions of users and delivery drivers being stolen Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR compliance: Whose job is it and is it really possible?

Nobody seems to have a good handle on business GDPR compliance, how many businesses are compliant, or indeed what compliance really is, but according to security experts, it very much depends on who you talk to Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Attackers breached supplier systems to steal Airbus secrets

Airbus has been the subject of at least four major cyber attacks in the past 12 months, with contractors and suppliers targeted through their VPNs Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Overinvestment breeds overconfidence among security pros

CISOs have made an abundance of security investments in multiple suppliers, but this might not be the right approach Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Teen TalkTalk hacker accused of cryptocurrency fraud in US

Elliott Gunton, one of the teenage hackers who broke into TalkTalk’s systems in 2015, faces extradition to the US to face fraud charges Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Instagram and WhatsApp – the new tools of social media propaganda

Facebook and Twitter have been cast as the villains of the piece, but social media disinformation and propaganda are evolving in new and alarming directions, say Oxford University researchers Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Latest Lorca cyber security challenge has IoT focus

Government-backed cyber security innovation centre Lorca has issued new challenges around connectivity for its next intake of scaleups Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Singapore payment card data compromised by JavaScript sniffers

Raw data of thousands of payment cards issued by Singapore banks stolen by the online equivalent of a traditional card sniffer Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

GandCrab ransomware writers still active despite ‘retirement’

Apparent links between an emerging ransomware family known as REvil and GandCrab suggests the GandCrab authors are keeping busy despite having “retired” in June Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Enterprises exposed to data loss by cloud configuration errors

Only 1% of misconfigured cloud environments are spotted and attackers are capitalising on this, claims McAfee Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Google pushes back on scale of YouTube phishing threat

Millions of YouTubers may be at risk after some high-profile influencers reported their accounts were compromised in an apparent phishing attack, but the platform’s owner, Google, is not so sure Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government insists 'nothing sinister' about web user data gathering

Government Digital Service responds to allegations that personal data gathered through Gov.uk portal could be used to target political messaging to citizens Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Universities tempting targets for cyber criminals, warns NCSC

As hundreds of thousands of students prepare for the new academic year, universities have been warned that they are at high risk of cyber attack Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

WannaCry variants accidentally protecting against WannaCry

New variants of the infamous WannaCry malware continue to emerge, and many of them have accidentally turned themselves into a somewhat effective, although ill-advised, vaccine against infection Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Emotet phishing botnet returns from summer vacation

The Emotet phishing trojan-turned-botnet is back in action after a three-and-a-half month break, say threat researchers Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Ecuador citizens’ data breach holds lessons for enterprises

What caused the mass breach of Ecuadorian citizens’ data, and what can businesses learn from it? Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

US lawmakers demand internal Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon documents in antitrust probe

US lawmakers have given big tech companies a deadline to disclose a wide range of documents as the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan investigation into competition gathers pace Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Ensign InfoSecurity opens global headquarters in Singapore

The Singapore-based cyber security firm’s new headquarters will also be home to a new security operations centre that will be supported by Singapore-centric threat intelligence Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Police use of algorithms needs stronger safeguards to prevent bias, report says

A study by the Royal United Services Institute calls for new code of practice to guide use of algorithmic tools in policing Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

European court to decide on legality of bulk phone and internet surveillance

The European Court of Justice will decide whether intelligence agencies across Europe can continue to lawfully collect the telephone and internet communications data of citizens, following a two-day hearing this week Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

When AIs go to war: Autonomous cyber weapons ‘inevitable’

CISOs must start thinking about how to engage with intelligent, adaptive, non-human attackers, says Trend Micro’s Rik Ferguson Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government seeks views on post-Brexit security alignment

The government has called for views on its proposals to align the UK’s post-Brexit cyber security policy to that of the European Union Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ICO to probe government over Gov.uk data collection plan

The ICO is to look into the government’s leaked data collection plans over fears they may breach the law Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UN agency Unicef praised for response to accidental data leak

The UN’s children’s agency has disclosed an inadvertent leak of personal data belonging to users of its online learning platform Agora Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

IBM introduces z15 mainframe with security data passport

In the new z15 enterprise server, IBM has focused on making data secure and auditable wherever it resides. Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Mirai descendants dominate IoT threat environment

Attacks leveraging compromised IoT devices are growing in size, scale and frequency, report security experts at F-Secure and Trend Micro, with Mirai-related botnets a major source of trouble Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Could Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings' ‘secret’ data sharing plan work?

Prime minister Boris Johnson and his controversial special advisor, Dominic Cummings, are “secretly” working on a plan to gather citizen data from across Whitehall to be used for targeting ... Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Regulators globally are shaping up to rein in Facebook

We need to move fast and fix Facebook, before it breaks us Continue Reading

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• Leighton Andrews , Cardiff Business School

Equifax and Heartbleed are most-Googled cyber security terms

Analysis of 15 years’ worth of Google search data has revealed some insight into what cyber security trends are capturing the imagination Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

GDPR non-compliance worse than feared

Over half of UK businesses do not yet appear to be fully GDPR-compliant, and many have de-prioritised their compliance efforts Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK calls for cyber capacity-building at UN security group

The UK’s representative to a United Nations cyber security working group has called for increased investment in capacity around cyber security Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BT gears up to take on rogue drones

BT’s Enterprise unit is offering customers an anti-drone security solution to protect their physical sites from intrusion Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: The case for blockchain-based identity

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Richard Hunt, Turnkey Consulting

How Zuellig Pharma is fighting fake drugs with blockchain

The Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical giant is using a blockchain platform from SAP to help consumers identify the provenance of medicine Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Terror watchlist faces reform after court rules it violates rights of people entering US

A secret US terrorist database containing information on more than 1.2 million people – who face repeated interrogations, detentions and electronic searches – violates constitutional rights, a US judge said last week Continue Reading

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• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Social engineering a factor in virtually all cyber attacks, report claims

Almost every single cyber attack will, at some stage, require a human to be tricked into doing something, according to research by Proofpoint Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Security Think Tank: Too soon to dismiss blockchain in cyber security

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Maxine Holt, Omdia

Data-driven marketing, the real risk boards are missing

Boards need to act to break the cycle of privacy compliance failures, and shift focus to aligning business purpose with privacy and dealing with the real risk of data driven marketing, warns PwC’s GDPR and data protection lead Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australia government to chart 2020 cyber security strategy

Australia’s home affairs ministry has released a discussion paper to seek views from all segments of society on the country’s next cyber security blueprint Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Security Think Tank: Use blockchain for integrity and immutability checks

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Eoin Keary

Singapore’s SecureAge eyes US market

The Singapore-based supplier of encryption and anti-malware tools has set up a new office in Greater Washington, DC as the next logical step in its global expansion plan Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Police use of controversial facial recognition technology deemed lawful

In a landmark hearing, the High Court has ruled that police use of automatic facial recognition technology is lawful, but that it still infringes on privacy rights Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

Security pros doubt officials can enact effective security laws

Elected officials cannot be trusted to enact effective cyber security legislation and social media firms should be subject to strict privacy regulation, according to most information security professionals in a survey Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Tide Foundation aims to boost password security

While passwordless security remains just out of reach, a non-profit organisation has developed a mechanism that it says makes passwords exponentially more difficult to crack Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Latest Facebook security lapse exposes millions to account hijack

18 million UK users are among the more than 400 million at risk of account hijacking after phone numbers linked to their Facebook accounts were found in an open online database Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Blockchain is not for everyone, so look carefully before you leap

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Paddy Francis

Check Point warns of Android phishing attacks

Researchers at Check Point have identified a security flaw in Android-based smartphones that exposes vulnerable users to phishing attacks Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Blockchain utility depends on business type and cost

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Petra Wenham

TrickBot Trojan switches to stealthy Ostap downloader

Operators of the TrickBot banking Trojan have switched to a new downloader to evade detection and analysis for a high-volume malicious spam campaign targeting business, researchers warn Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber criminals tap into web social engineering toolkit 

Security researchers have discovered a web social engineering toolkit that enables cyber criminals to create fake update notification campaigns  Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Risk mitigation is key to blockchain becoming mainstream

What are the best and most effective ways information security professionals can use blockchain technology? Continue Reading

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• Mike Yeomans, Information Security Forum

UK organisations join quantum comms pilot

Four UK companies are taking part in a pilot project to build the most secure communication infrastructure in Europe Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

CISOs turn to AI, detection, response and education

Information security leaders are looking to artificial intelligence, better detection and response capabilities and user education in the face of cyber threats, but need more budget, a study shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

How to mitigate IoT security risks to tap business benefits

Security concerns are preventing many businesses from adopting IoT-based technologies, but with a bit of planning, the business benefits can be realised by mitigating the risk Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Dutch regulator reveals potential Microsoft privacy breach

Netherlands privacy watchdog has revealed potential breaches while testing Microsoft software changes Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Targeted cyber attacks, including ransomware, on the rise

Governments and healthcare institutions are prime targets of ransomware operators, a report shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Mitigating social engineering attacks with MFA

The growing frequency of social engineering attacks highlights the increasing need for organisations to take steps to mitigate the effects of phishing Continue Reading

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• Peter Ray Allison

Ransomware has evolved into a serious enterprise threat

Ransomware has seen a resurgence since the start of 2019, with cyber criminals changing code and tactics to target enterprises and local authorities for higher ransom payments, McAfee researchers warn Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Majority of organisations struggling with cloud security

The majority of organisations find securing the cloud difficult and more than a quarter feel the shared security responsibility model is unclear, according to a survey of information security professionals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Human rights group challenges police over counter-terrorism powers

Bringing into question the effectiveness of terror laws, a report by human rights group Cage highlights poor conviction rates and the discriminatory application of police powers at the border Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Security pros reiterate warning against encryption backdoors

The majority of security professionals believe countries with government-mandated encryption backdoors are more susceptible to nation-state cyber attacks Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

A helping hand from the Nordics in the eye of the GDPR storm

Nordic IT companies are well suited to supporting enterprises in their data protection projects, even though openness is more natural to them Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Tech firms join forces to boost cloud security

Top tech firms are to collaborate on open source technologies, tools, frameworks and standards that accelerate the adoption of confidential computing to boost security in cloud and edge computing Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Cyber attackers exploiting poor cloud security

More than a third of organisations report a cyber attack on the cloud environment due to a lack of basic cloud security hygiene Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

GDPR, AI intensify privacy and data protection compliance demands

This guide covers the challenges data management teams face on data protection and privacy, particularly with the rise of GDPR and similar laws and the growing use of AI tools. Continue Reading

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• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

Healthcare faces triple cyber threat, says FireEye

Criminal and nation-state cyber attackers are increasingly targeting the healthcare industry to steal data, carry out espionage and cause disruption, a report reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Human error a big risk to ICS cyber security, study shows

Despite the rise in automation, industrial processes are at risk due to human error, a report on industrial cyber security reveals Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Huawei to US: Ban violates free market principles

Huawei has hit back at the US government’s latest moves to restrict its activities Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK financial account takeovers up, report warns

Commercial cyber criminal services are helping to drive up the number of account takeovers, a fraud report for the first half of the year shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Q2 shows ransomware proliferation, Kaspersky warns

Ransomware modifications have more than doubled in the past year, the number of ransomware families has grown, and the number of attempted infections is up nearly 50% Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

US extends temporary stay on Huawei ban

American network operators given extra wiggle room to wean themselves off Huawei’s hardware Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Passwordless enterprise already possible, says RSA

The passwordless enterprise is getting easier to attain as the security industry gears up to support a passwordless future, says RSA’s identity chief Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

New approach to risk management needed, says Gartner

Most third-party risks are discovered after the initial due diligence period, Gartner study shows, highlighting the need for a new approach to risk management and the importance of effective access controls Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

ICO to probe facial recognition at King’s Cross

UK privacy watchdog is to investigate whether the use of live facial recognition technology at King’s Cross complies with data protection laws Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Australia needs to get digital identity right

A top Ping Identity executive urges Australia to put more focus on digital identity management following the government’s efforts to lay the groundwork for an open banking regime Continue Reading

By

• Beverley Head

2019 set to be another record year for data breaches

The number of data breach incidents continues to rise and looks set to reach another record this year, with the business sector first in the firing line, according to a mid-year breach report Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Formjacking dominates web-related data breaches

Formjacking has become one of the most popular data stealing methods, say researchers, who urge commercial websites to review all third-party coding practices without delay Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Melbourne researchers uncover privacy lapses in transport dataset

A team of University of Melbourne researchers has been able to re-identify individuals from a public transport dataset, raising serious privacy, safety and security issues Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Publicly accessible biometric database highlights key failings

The discovery of a publicly accessible database of biometric information highlights failings by the supplier, the need for supply chain security, and the challenges of using biometric data Continue Reading

DCMS funding aims to increase diversity in cyber sector

A funding round has been announced as part of the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF) with aims of encouraging more diverse talent into the UK’s cyber security sector Continue Reading

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• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

GDPR faces growing pains across Europe

The General Data Protection Regulation is over a year old now, but it faces challenges across Europe where compliance has taken place at different speeds Continue Reading

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• Pat Brans, Pat Brans Associates/Grenoble Ecole de Management

Cyber criminal collaboration intensifies

The level of cooperation between high-profile cyber threat groups has shifted up a gear, enabling a higher level of automation and making attribution more difficult, research shows Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Digital domain identified as major security threat by Norway’s intelligence service

Norway's intelligence services has revealed the extent of the threat posed to the country by cyber attacks Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

British Airways e-ticketing system could expose passenger details

British Airways has not addressed a potential leak of passenger details despite warnings from security researchers, but says it is aware of the issue and is taking action Continue Reading

By

• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst

Security Think Tank: Data architects should be key allies of infosec pros

How can infosec pros and data architects work together to support business goals and achieve a good level of cyber security? Continue Reading

By

• Eoin Keary

Breach cost $53m in Q2, says Desjardins

Credit union cooperative Desjardins reveals that a data breach in June cost the company $53m in the second quarter, but that could be just the start, warn industry commentators Continue Reading

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• Warwick Ashford, Senior analyst